Tag: health

Today I’d just like to address the statement “Being a Vegan is too Hard”. I uploaded the picture on instagram, click here, of this incredible, 100% vegan burger, I ate at a local restaurant and it just made me think. Being vegan is now easier than ever. More and more companies are taking responsibility and offering food and products which are safe for vegans. Granted, they are only doing this for profit, supply meets demand and all that, but it still means that veganism is being presented to the mainstream and is easily accessible. It feels like every week I see an announcement that a shop or restaurant has a new range of vegan food/has changed the recipe of a meal to make it vegan. For example; just last week Sainsburys released a delicious range of vegan cheeses, now nicknamed Gary, and even McDonald’s have made their burger (if you ask for no mayo) and fries vegan friendly. The food industry really is revolutionising, the dairy industry is declining rapidly and veganism is rising at that same pace. Just look at the statistics for veganunary. 2016 saw a rise of 5x the amount of people participating, and 6 months on 50% of them had remained vegan, that’s a lot of people.

Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked. I guess what I’m trying to say is this. Don’t use the excuse that being vegan is too hard, educate yourself and come to the decision based on actual logic rather than laziness. Yes, we might have to read labels and such, but what’s 5 minutes out of your day.

Believe it or not this is actually an argument us vegans hear, quite regularly as well unfortunately. And it is a quite simple one to refute, simply by saying no; Hitler wasn’t a vegetarian, not even close. Hitler was advised by his doctors to follow a vegetarian diet from ‘time to time’, emphasises on the time to time part of the sentence, due to the fact he suffered from severe flatulence, however; he was never an actual vegetarian. Just by looking at the facts we can decipher this. Biographers who wrote about Hitler (and who knew him quite well on a personal basis) openly describe his love for Bavarian sausages and game pie (“game” meaning wild meat from birds and other creatures) and Hitler’s own personal chef described his favourite meal as stuffed pigeon, not very vegetarian huh. Thanks to ‘naturalnews.com’ for the info. But let’s play it your way, let’s pretend Hitler was a vegetarian. The problem with that is the argument is a logical fallacy, aka an argument with extremely poor reasoning. To put it simply, one does not impact the other. You can be evil and you can be vegan, the two are by no means mutually inclusive. If you want to play that card then allow me to play mine. Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot… the list goes on, were all meat eaters, so surely that means meat eaters are also evil serial killers, right? No. Of course not, so can we agree to put this argument to bed now, as it really is a stupid one and just makes the arguer look like an idiot. Granted it is usually played at the end of debates when said party realises they have lost, but go out with dignity for goodness sakes. So, to clear up, no Hitler was not a vegetarian, but who cares if he was?

The answer really is that simple, I can’t believe this is an actual argument I’ve heard, but ‘No’ makes for a boring blog post, so here goes.

Firstly ask yourself this question; would you like to be killed ‘humanely’? The average slaughter time for a cow is 18 months, pigs even less and chickens just mere weeks. So if someone offered you lots of money, a nice house, anything you wanted really but the catch is you will be slaughtered for food after 18 months, would you take it? Of course not. And the fact is 99% of animals killed for food are not treated ‘humanely’ at all. Yes some might get to be ‘free range’ before their impending death, or yes they might be knocked out before they are killed, but the fact is it will never be humane to kill an animal for food, especially in this day and age. The demand for meat is so high it is impossible to have completely grass fed animals, there has to be some form of slaughter house, animals have to be pumped full of steroids and live their lives in cramped spaces, just to keep up with the demand for meat and dairy. So if you say to yourself that it’s okay because the animal was killed humanely (how the f*** can you kill something humanely?) then you really are scraping at the bottom of the barrel for excuses.

Cognitive dissonance. That pretty much summarises the whole human race at this point. The definition of this term is the following: “the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change”. Mainstream beliefs are constantly contradicting themselves in this day and age, and the most recent example of this is the controversial death of the rare La Plata Dolphin which tragically died after being passed around for a selfie on a beach in Argentina. Now I love animals, as you can tell by my passion for being Vegan so this upset me more than most, however; I love all animals and believe they all have the right to live just like you and I, and, despite the fact this particular dolphin is a very rare species, the death of this dolphin upsets me just as much as the death of a cow for your burger, or the death of a male chick for simply not being born a woman. All animals have the desire to live and, in my opinion, are equally deserving of that right. Death is death, and I am fully aware that dying for a selfie is ridiculous, but dying for food after spending an entire life enslaved and being pumped full of steroids and antibiotics is equally ridiculous, particularly in 2016 when humans have no need to eat meat, in fact the general consensus of science is that a vegan diet is actually optimum for human health, despite what mainstream media propaganda/coverups will have you believe, such as that recent video from WatchMojo. Just look at people like Dr. Kim A Williams, who happens to be the president of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Michael Greger who uploads daily content on his site (click here), Dr. T Colin Campbell, who published the biggest study on nutrition of all time in the China Study. There are tons of mechanistic data and studies showing that Vegan diets actually can reverse disease and, considering that 14 out of the 15 biggest killers in the UK/US are diet related, this is revolutionary. There is not one nutrient that benefits the human body which cannot be obtained from a vegan diet, humans simply choose to eat meat, it’s traditional, they have you believe it’s ‘natural’, it tastes good and by consuming meat/dairy you are actively supporting the rape, exploitation, enslavement and slaughter of innocent, sentient beings that are motivated by the same emotions to live as we are, and if that upsets or offends you, maybe it’s time to wake up from this fantasy land the media portrays where chickens and cows run around happy and accept the reality of your decisions to consume animal products.

To summarise; it’s obvious that humans love animals, you can tell that from how upset everyone is about this dolphin, not to mention the fact many of us have pets which we love. Humans have no carnivorous instincts, as I said in my last post (here), and more and more people are realising this, making the connection, and going vegan. I understand we don’t see a dolphin as food in this country, but other cultures eat dolphin, we are just desensitised to other animals dying and being labelled as bacon or sausage, it’s wrong and will change, sooner or later.

And this is not the truth because I’m Vegan, I’m Vegan because it’s the truth. Keep smiling, Harrison.

This, believe it or not, is another anti-vegan argument that people love to use. Something has to die in order for us to survive so why can’t we just eat whatever we want. That’s the argument and I’m surprised people actually think this is a good reason to contribute to the needless death and suffering of animals, but apparently it is, hence this post.

Now this probably won’t be a long post because of how stupid this argument is but here goes.

The quote I have seen articles refuting veganism use is this:

“If we truly believe that no living thing should have to die for our dinner, we shouldn’t eat at all. If we truly believe that all life deserves equal respect, why not equalize ourselves by embracing the elegant fact that we are all, as Nelson writes, “driven by the same hungers that motivate any other creature— the squirrel in the forest, the vole in the meadow, the bear on the mountainside, the deer in the valley”?

This quote can be made irrelevant purely by the definition of veganism. Vegans believe that, as far as possible and practical, we should abstain from all forms of cruelty and suffering of sentient beings for food, clothing or any other purpose. Emphasis on the ‘as far as possible and practical’ bit. Humans have to eat something, that much is obvious, so vegans just choose the lifestyle that provides animals, and the environment, with the least amount of suffering as possible, it’s quite simple.

Now for the part of the quote which states humans are ‘driven by the same hungers that motivate any other creature’, that is quite simply ridiculous. Obviously we experience hunger like any other animal and therefore go and seek food to satisfy this hunger; however, humans certainly have no instincts to kill and eat meat. Animals with these instincts, for example a lion or bear, see an animal and immediately think food, they even salivate at the sight of these animals. Humans have zero carnivorous instincts and have to cook our meat before it is even safe for us to eat, and even then we struggle with digestion. As activist Gary Yourofsky says: If you put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit, tell me the time where the baby plays with the apple and eats the rabbit, it will never happen. Humans go to a supermarket and buy meat with names such as bacon, sausage or steak, nothing about that is natural or shows carnivorous instincts and definitely doesn’t resemble the behaviour of other animals who do actually need meat in their diet to survive, unlike humans.

People also like to say the classic line of ‘but lions kill other animals for food, it’s the circle of life’. The circle of life definitely doesn’t involve breeding animals purely for the purpose of being food/used for dairy, pumping them full of steroids and antibiotics, using them for their bodies and then finally killing them for food, that doesn’t sound like nature at work at all to me. Also, isn’t it unfair to replicate one trait of a lion and ignore all of the other things they do? Like you don’t see many humans licking their own anuses, killing their infants, or urinating in bushes to mark their territory.

Pardon my ridiculous reasoning in that last paragraph but I feel it is okay and relevant when such a ludicrous statement like this is used to try and dispute veganism. So yeah, hope you enjoyed. Keep smiling, Harrison.

This question is possibly the funniest argument against veganism I will ever hear, and ironically it’s usually the, let’s say larger, people that I hear this from. For some reason the Western world is obsessed with protein nowadays, going as far as saying we need 1 gram per pound of body weight, or even more if you want to build muscle! It’s crazy. The Dietary Reference Index is 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight, so around 50 grams per day, and obviously, if you eat enough calories of anything, this can easily be achieved each day. But even this is unnecessary. There have never been any reported medical cases of protein deficiency, there isn’t even a medical term for the condition, no human has ever, or ever will, got/get it. As long as you eat enough food, you get enough protein, it’s really that simple. I recommend watching this video as Dr Michael Gregor can explain it way better than me http://nutritionfacts.org/video/do-vegetarians-get-enough-protein/.

However; if you are building muscle and worrying that a vegan diet won’t give you enough protein, then again, there is no need to worry. First off, protein is nowhere near as important as society may have led you to believe. There are no benefits from using supplements such as whey or casein, in fact quite the opposite, since these products are unregulated, large amounts of them were found to contain dangerous levels of toxic metals (check out this study http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/protein-drinks/index.htm), but if you really wanted a protein supplement go for something that is actually healthy, like brown rice protein. Most of the bodybuilder guys that sell and promote supplements are sponsored and rely on steroids for their ‘gains’, the effect of supplements in negligible. The best way to get your protein is from food, and really the only healthy protein out there is plant based protein. The World Health Organisation categorised meat as a high level carcinogen, alongside cigarettes, and lengthy studies like The China Study support this fact using evidence obtained through 27 years of detailed research. But don’t worry, the myth that plants don’t contain enough protein is nothing you need to worry about, in fact foods like beans, nuts, soy etc contain very high levels of protein, in many cases more than meat (in terms of per calorie), and when combined with a grain like wheat or rice, this makes a ‘complete protein’, you know that thing people say you can only get with meat?

So yeah obviously I’m no scientist but the proof is in the pudding, I mean do you really think world record holding strong man Patrik Baboumian (vegan) or Mr Universe Barny Du Plessis (also vegan) struggle with protein? If you still aren’t convinced just do some simple research yourself, make sure to avoid studies which are subsidised by the meat and dairy industries though, there’s lots out there. Keep smiling, Harrison. 🙂

So as I said in my last post I’m going to start incorporating more and more vegan related content into my blog. I have never felt more passionate about something in my life as I do veganism, it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle and something that attacks the biggest injustice in human history; animal agriculture. Now these posts will attack mainstream beliefs, beliefs that have indoctrinated pretty much all of the western world and ideals that the majority of the population invest in, that being meat and dairy are good for you and needed in your diet. So meat eaters could easily get offended reading vegan related content as it attacks the foundations of their ideology, I get it, I used to be that guy too, but I urge you to read any content with an open mind.

Anyway; as you can tell by the title, this particular blog post is about why I went vegan. Like many I went vegetarian before I went vegan. Whilst this is a good stepping stone up to veganism, I would advise just going straight into veganism itself, that’s what I should have done looking back, as it really isn’t that hard and it’s what’s ethically right for the animals and the planet. Obviously you will make mistakes to begin with, but that’s all part of the learning curve. So yeah, I went vegetarian just after my 18th birthday in May, around the 14th I believe, after watching a heart-breaking documentary called ‘Earthlings’ (I shall be making a post very soon with lots of the content that motivated me to make the change, so stay tuned for that). The only reason I watched this documentary was because I was watching a Fitness channel called ‘Vegan Gains’ on YouTube and he spoke so highly of it, so I decided to check it out. Bearing in mind at this point I had literally just finished eating a kebab so I was still a fully-fledged meat eater and had no desire to change my lifestyle. This documentary opened my eyes to the animal agriculture industry and what it’s really like. The media do a great job of portraying some kind of utopia regarding animal agriculture and I, like many, hadn’t made the connection as to what I was eating due to this propaganda western society is subjected to on a daily basis. Whether that be happy cows or chickens on the packaging, or giving meat fake names such as ‘bacon’, which is really just pig flesh. I mean does the media really think children who watch shows like Peppa Pig would be happy eating a real pig? The animal agriculture business is the most profitable business in the world and they do a great job of exploiting the cognitive dissonance in society, but once you make the connection, like more and more are nowadays, you can’t go back. For example; as the great Paul McCartney says “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” Anyways, I digress. So I was vegetarian for around 4 months. I always had the idea that I would go vegan, just never fully committed, but as I continued to educate myself about the meat and dairy industries and the more I exposed myself to the truth, I decided it was time to change my life, do what was ethically, logically and environmentally right, and go vegan. I went properly vegan on the 20th September, just as I started university and I have never looked back. I feel better both physically and mentally, I have more energy than ever and I am just a happier person in general. I have the theory that by abstaining from putting death and suffering inside my body, I am happier. In my opinion everyone should go vegetarian or vegan, I shall explain why in a later post but I just don’t see how anyone other than a sociopath could make the connection and continue to live their lifer the same way, it’s just not right. (Oooo controversial)

So yeah, there we go. I understand this is an incredibly self-centred post but I figured it was the best place to start and might be relatable in a way. Keep smiling, Harrison 🙂